Noticed it late the other day while stopped at a red light. Fresh cut, easy access and little traffic as it was a connecting road in an industrial area. Mostly nice straight logs. I only had to noodle maybe ten of the larger ones to load. Couple hours today for a full load. Left all the shorts and junk behind. I split over half at storage after. The rest tomorrow morning. There was some other trees on the same road for the taking. Less than five miles from storage too. Not a species I aggressively seek nor do I want it in quantity, but it dries super fast and a split or two will go into bundles. It made some primo splits. CSS now and it'll be ready in 6-8 months. Goldilocks is a term commonly used here describing rounds that aren't too big or small and are the perfect size for any newbies reading this. My cheapo camera broke so no pics. Tried to get one from the flip phone to here but that didn't work either.
I'd take some goldilocks cottonwood for my stash...it actually works nicely in our wood furnace most of the winter, since we seem too not have much of a winter here in NE OH anymore...
Atta boy Brad. A couple years ago you were on the fence about taking any amount of cottonwood, now look at you! Almost makes me want to find some more for myself… almost It’s been a good 5 years since I came across any, but I do remember actually liking it in my stove.
Do you score a lot of it Dave? Its your favorite FHC quote "it burns better than snowballs." Amazes me how much water is present in it when fresh cut. Kinda like wronging out a sponge when the splitter blade hits it. Do you have to get wood under 20% for the OWB?
Wasnt really looking for it but I'll take it. With an eight account just picked up for bundles I'll need it for sure. It'll get stacked accessible so I can mix in when its ready and if needed. I have some silver maple stacked as such and I'm thinking its getting close. Three months CSS and gets good sun and wind.
Not tons, but I have some in the stacks for sure...some tulip poplar too. I have an indoor whole house wood furnace (Kuuma) Kuuma Wood Burning Furnaces & Sauna Stoves | Lamppa MFG But yes, you should, it kills efficiency if you don't, but some will argue that, they still think water burns. The old school OWBs will kinda smolder/burn wet wood though, but they also use a Metric Chit ton O wood too!! The newer gasifier OWBs like wood under 20%, but can go a bit higher...Heat Master actually lets you change the settings on the control panel to account for how dry/wet your wood is. Dad replaced their old school "forest eater" boiler at the farm about 4-5 years ago, they went from north of 22 cords/year before, to 11-ish now with the Heat Master G10000...that unit heats 2 farm houses, and 2 shops, 1 of which is pretty good size.
Goldilocks used Cottonwood for her front door and was promptly accosted by a family of bears. Moral of the story? Don’t use Cottonwood. Just kidding. Never had any myself. There’s a big ol tree of it laying on the side of the road about a mile from me. Always heard it was tough to split. How’d you make out?
Not missing much, but if its there and easy give it a shot. Its lower than tulip in terms of btu's. Don't knock it til you try it. I had some mixed in a stack that got no sunlight and was amazed that it dried in 6-9 months. It splits on the hydro okay. Pretty straight and clean, but when the blade makes contact it oozes out water as if youre splitting a saturated sponge. Hand splitting is tough as the maul sinks in like its a block of clay. It has a very high water content. One of the highest for a hardwood IINM. There's a few FHCers that burn it and like it. Do you separate out SS woods and burn in cool weather? I know you don't mess with them that often.
6-8 months to season cottonwood? I split some for bundle wood less than 3 weeks ago and started pulling splits yesterday for bundles. Yes, they were under 20%. Of course I had to sort as some were still too wet.
Cottonwood is strange wood but it will do, especially early or late in the burning season. It dries out fast but if you forget it in the stacks it goes bad faster than any other wood I have seen.
Nope, don’t seperate lessor woods as I don’t get enough usually. I try to mix about 10% in with general cordage of heavy hitters like oak, hickory, SM. There was that year where I burned almost all Tulip. Surprised how hot I got the house stuffing the stove full time. Have to be home to do it tho. Not a good wood to heat the house if you’re out working/commuting. As long as you’re there to gopher it heats better than oak,,,,no coaling stage just constant flame.
Interesting thread. I’ve never burned any of the Cottonwood around here. There seems to be quite a bit of it in the moister areas along the river. They are growing a hybrid cottonwood in areas here that grows extremely fast and is used to make pulp for tissue paper products at the local paper mill. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I like Cottonwood for the ability to burn quick and still makes a hot fire in a small amount of time. Good score. Remains some of the best kindling wood aside from western red cedar.
Well this was a back row stack and it got no sun and little wind. It may have been dry sooner but was feather light when I got to it. Getting stacked with good sun and wind exposure as I'm sure I'll need it sooner than later. Nice that it dries that fast for you! How do you mix it with your bundles? 50/50 etc?
Split the rest of the rounds off the truck this morning, moved next door and stacked. Ill get the rest of them moved there this week. Over 90% of the score went to bundle inventory which is a good yield on a PU full.
Depending on the quality of the split, I'll mix in 2-4 pieces during the warm weather seasons. I don't use any in the winter. With my mini (12"+/-) bundles I just throw in whatever is handy since the price is discounted.
Got pics today with new camera. What I left behind on Sunday. Some wood right up the street I may go back for. White walnut (more of a novelty scrounge) and ash. Green variety I believe. Ill get pics of the splits soon.
Hey wait a minute! Didnt she break into the bears house for the porridge? It was the second little pig that built his house with cottonwood and the wolf blew it down!
This is only a test. This has been a test of the Firewoodhoarders forum. You can now go back to your regularly scheduled duties Petrified Cottonwood. Hell on chains but wolf proof
